Strange Times

By G. E. Shuman

I think that I must not be the only Central Vermonter who is wondering what’s going on in our state, and in our country, in the year of our Lord, 2011. These times simply seem to be strange times. Two or three Saturdays ago we were promised the Biblical rapture, which did not occur. No surprise, but please note: This writer believes, with zero doubt, that Jesus will return to the earth, and could do this even on the day you’re reading these words. He just didn’t do it on the day one man told us that He would. That guy could have saved himself and a lot of other people some trouble, as the Bible clearly says that no man will know when that day will be.

The following Thursday, (after the non-rapture) and nearly every day since then, our beloved portion of the state has been flooded, re-flooded, wind-blown, sandbagged, washed out, cleaned, re-washed out, and re-cleaned, only to be rained on still again. If you have felt, lately, that you might have been moved to the Amazon, you’re not alone. Vermonters have lost driveways, (That includes this Vermonter.) vehicles, and even homes. Mud has been just everywhere, and is still being cleaned up. Rivers rose, and roads eroded. Cellars filled with water, and residents and businesses paid the price. Insurance policies and nerves have been strained to their limits. Bank accounts have been busted. (Please don’t tell my English students that I used the word ‘busted’. Thank you.) It’s hard to believe that only a handful of weeks ago we were wondering if winter would ever end. And, all of this is little, compared to the devastation some other of our fifty United States have recently experienced because of tornadoes. Even Springfield, MA just had their first tornado in fifty years. Yes, to my mind, these are strange times, indeed.

At this point some of you are thinking, and may even comment to our editor, as one reader recently did, that I’m “rambling on” about the odd things happening in our world today, and that those things have always happened. Yes, earthquakes and tsunamis have always occurred, just like thunder storms and tornados have. Still, something these days just doesn’t seem right. Can you feel it? I can’t speak for you, but a combination of things, including natural disasters, a very hard winter, political unrest around the world, political unrest here, and four dollar a gallon fuel prices, causing rising prices on everything else has me a bit un-nerved about the times we live in. These days, our scientists are seriously discussing issues like time-travel, anti-matter, anti-gravity, the “God” particle, and even zombies. Yes, zombies. If you don’t believe me, google it. Strange times, yes.

To me, perhaps all of this is for our good. It takes a lot to scare, surprise or amaze people today. Just ask a Hollywood movie producer. But, things have been pretty exciting lately. Perhaps nature, and our unwitting politicians are simply providing unnerving happenings capable of convincing the world that even an event like the return of our Lord is not so far-fetched, after all. Christians like me are not looked upon as quite so wacky these days. Just ask some of our acquaintances who were a bit uneasy as the day of the predicted rapture approached.

For what it’s worth, and you may think it is worth nothing, these are strange enough times to just actually be the last times. I wish you would consider that.